I try to meditate every night, but now I'm getting confused. I'm not sure if Mantra and Mudra are the same thing, but how are they really used? For example, if I used Judo as my Mantra, would I chant Judo! Judo! Judo! but quietly. (you know what I mean-- what you do when you chant someone's name over and over) I'm a little confused and overwhelmed here with the stylistic differences and lack of a mainstream way of meditation. Help Me!!!!

A mantra is a chant or a phrase used to focus the mind on "not thinking". Mudras as I know of them are body positions.

Keep it simple. I would find a comfy spot where you wont be disturbed. Sit in half lotus or seiza or a position which is comfortable for you.

Close your eyes and relax into your breathing. Focus on the in and out breath into your centre. Breathe deep into your belly - Buddhist sytle breathing please.

Dont worry about the chanting, it isn't necessary other than to dull the mind into not thinking. Empty the mind of thoughts, just be the breath.

If you can hold this for a minute the first day then go for 2 the next and so on. If u find thoughts straying then just focus back on the breathing and push the thoughts aside and acknowledge that you will deal with them later.

Focus. Breathe. Be.

You can find mantras for chanting and get CDs of chants from many places. I have a long CD of a zither just quietly humming which is amazing to meditate to.

Popular mantras are OM, Om namah Shivaya, On nami padme hum to name a few. basically anything will do as long as you can chant it.

I myself have never used a mantra, and even this matter of mudra's confounds me, as I have never done a system of meditation which called for one (or perhaps it did anmd I did it without thinking about it. Who know?).

Sometimes it helps to picture different streams of light entering and elaving your body as you breathe, or imagine that the air your breathing is fog, as you breathe in it reaches throughout your whole body, swirling around in your Tan Tien (center of gravity and energy, look up more on it for a better description), and then picture it leaving your body as you exhale.

The light coming into the body is an effective one, you can picture it entering your crown chakra and flowing through the body around the hui-yin circuit [to complete this circuit between the GV and the CV place your tongue on the roof of the mouth behind the teeth] and swirling around the Tan Tien and then leaving the body through the legs and gong into the earth.

Some people like to use the colour references for the different chakras. ie crown = white, 3rd eye=violet, throat = blue, heart=green, solar plexus=orange, navel=yellow, base = red.

Imagine the white light energy enetering your body thru the crown and changing through the different colours as it passes through each chakra to the base and then leaves the body to start the circuit all over again.

I was there and moved direct instead. As far as Mudra, it is the hand positions from Yoga and ninjutsu and more. My teacher has shown me that it takes too long whereas the answer is the direct method of the mind not so much Channels and Correspondences associated with Mantras/ Sound vibration, or Mudras/ the manipulation of energy channels ending in the fingers. PS as far as where flow goes ..What direction and where, I believe is the point of what was not clear as not completely correct perhaps? That part is the "root of the tree" of how to be grounded! I'll agree to drink to that.

Mudras are hand postures, and even finger postures. The cool thing about mantras and mudras, is that they cross stylistic boundaries. Buddhist, Taoist, and Yoga styles all use similar mantras and mudras